Hiring checklist

What to prepare before hiring an instructional designer

A better hiring process starts before the first call. Prepare the business goal, learner audience, source material, constraints, LMS needs, review process, and success criteria so the instructional designer can scope the work accurately.

Before you hire

Know the business problem and learner behavior you want to change.
Gather source materials and identify the final approver.
Define LMS, accessibility, timeline, translation, and reporting requirements before development starts.

Define the business problem

A course request should begin with the problem: errors are increasing, onboarding is inconsistent, compliance risk is high, customers are confused, software adoption is low, or instructor-led training cannot scale.

This helps the instructional designer recommend the right learning format instead of simply building the requested artifact.

Remote interview with an instructional design professional — An instructional design interview explores the business problem, audience, and project requirements.

Describe the audience

Include learner role, experience level, location, device access, language needs, job environment, and what learners already know.

Different audiences need different examples, pacing, language, practice, and assessment decisions.

Gather the source material

Useful source material includes slide decks, policies, recordings, job aids, SOPs, screenshots, system access, product documentation, scripts, and existing assessments.

If source material is incomplete, plan for SME interviews and a content discovery phase.

Clarify approvals and launch requirements

Identify reviewers, final approver, required launch date, LMS package type, tracking needs, accessibility expectations, translation needs, and whether the course needs future updates.

Clear approvals reduce revision churn and make the production schedule more reliable.

FAQ

Hiring and kickoff questions

Do I need a complete script before hiring an instructional designer?

No. A good instructional designer can help create the script, but you should provide source material and access to SMEs.

Who should approve the course?

Choose one final approver or a very small approval group. Large reviewer groups often slow projects and create conflicting feedback.

What should I ask an instructional designer?

Ask about process, samples, review cycles, LMS experience, accessibility, scenario design, timeline, and how they work with SMEs.

Need help applying this to a real project?

Send the project goal, audience, materials, timeline, and review needs. PCG can recommend a realistic path forward.

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